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Newsletter on 1 July Rally, Hong Kong
Christine Loh, Civic Exchange
The mood at the rally today was a mixture of lightness, hope and
resolve.
The significance of the 1 July 2004 rally is that Hong Kong has a people's
movement. The people want not only a better economy but also universal
suffrage and for their views to be heard and respected by the authorities.
Over the past 12 months, more than a million people participated in activities
that were part of a social-democratic movement. Its time to bury the saying
that Hong Kong people are apolitical. They are in fact actively involved
in shaping their own future as people of the HKSAR.
A. Is there a 'movement' ?
1. A movement comes into existence without any need for formal organization
or for a clearly defined common strategy.
2. A movement has to involve a very large number of people from all walks
of life. A movement is sustained by an idea that drives participation.
A good signal is when pop stars sing and write songs about the idea.
3. In Hong Kong's case, the numbers are large and the idea is democracy.
At the 1 July 2004 rally, young pop artists were out in force to belt
out pro-democracy songs, some of which were quite catchy. Democracy has
now become "hip".
B. Impressive numbers - 1 million
1. 1 July 2003: A year ago, 500-700,000 protesters marched to object to
the imminent passage of the controversial Article 23 national security
legislation that people felt would affect their freedoms.
2. 9 July 2003: An estimated 50,000 gathered to protest at LegCo on the
day that the Article 23 was supposed to pass even though it had already
been withdrawn by the government as the Liberal Party withdrew its support
for the bill.
3. 13 July 2003: Some 20,000 gathered to rally for democratic reform.
4. 27 November 2003: Voters turned out at the District Council election
to vote out many of the members of those parties that had voiced
their support for the government to push through the Article 23 legislation.
5. 1 January 2004: Over 100,000 people rallied for universal suffrage
in 2007-2008.
6. 4 June 2004: More than 80,000 people commemorated 4 June 1989 at a
candlelight vigil.
7. 1 July 2004: Around 300-350,000 people rallied for democracy despite
the fact that Beijing had ruled out universal suffrage in 2007-2008.
C. What do Hong Kong want?
A Civic Exchange survey released on 26 June showed Hong Kong people want
THREE things:
1. Improved economy: For the government to create the right
conditions for economic development; AND
2. Universal suffrage: Preferrably sooner rather than later, hence the
continuous calls for 2007-2008; AND
3. To be heard: By the HKSAR Government and Beijing.
You can see the survey at www.civic-exchange.org under "publications 2004
June". What was most interesting was that 21% of the respondents thought
Hong Kong people themselves had to do something to bring about universal
suffrage.
CHRISTINE LOH
Civic Exchange - HK's independent think tank
www.civic-exchange.org
To subscribe (free) or unsubscribe email cloh@civic-exchange.org